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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23992084">Marching Bands of Manhattan</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilithStarlight/pseuds/LilithStarlight'>LilithStarlight</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>PLANS (August 30, 2005) [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>NCT (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Boys In Love, Cute, Cute Kim Jungwoo (NCT), Cute Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas, Established Relationship, Fluff, Healthy Relationships, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Slice of Life, ahh it's really odd and prosey and it switches tenses, anyway hope you like it!, but yeah it's just jungwoo and yukhei being cute and in love, jungwoo calls him dear and my love, literally nothing but fluff, oh the hurt doesn't really even occur during the story it's all about the comfort, they have specific nicknames for each other too, they're just sweeties who love each other ;3;, yukhei calls him honey and baby</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 20:53:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,444</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23992084</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilithStarlight/pseuds/LilithStarlight</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>"But when the sun shines again, I’ll pull the curtains and blinds to let the lights in."<em></em></em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <br/><em><br/><em>Jungwoo and Yukhei are just that: Jungwoo and Yukhei. They love who they are together and what they are together, and they don't plan on changing that anytime soon.</em></em><br/></p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kim Jungwoo/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>PLANS (August 30, 2005) [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1730053</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>31</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Marching Bands of Manhattan</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jungwoo and Yukhei.</p><p>Yukhei and Jungwoo.</p><p>They fit together, like two pieces of the same puzzle.</p><p>They exist together, like two sides of a coin.</p><p>They live together.</p><p>They simply Are.</p><p> </p><p>People doubt them sometimes.</p><p>“You’re both too emotional,” Jungwoo had heard once. “You need to find someone who’s more grounded, less shaky.” Jungwoo shook his head, smiling. “We have each other, so our foundation is sturdy,” he had replied.</p><p>“You’re the same star sign,” someone told Yukhei one day. “Aquariuses don’t work well together.” Yukhei had just laughed. “Then we understand each other, don’t we?” was all he said.</p><p>Their personal favorite was from some random stranger on a subway. “You’re both too tall. You need a height difference,” they had said, as if that mattered. Jungwoo had smirked. “All the better for kissing, don’t you think?” and without reaching, without needing to stand on his toes or force Yukhei to crouch, he pressed his lips to Yukhei’s in a sweet, protective kiss. Yukhei was all smiles afterward. And it got the subway goer to stop talking as they looked away, embarrassed at their own words.</p><p>Where Jungwoo and Yukhei are involved, the way they know and love each other is enough for them.</p><p> </p><p>It’s not all perfect. Of course it’s not. They’re human, too.</p><p>No river was ever made without a little weathering, without some fighting against what was originally there, without working out a compromise between itself and nature.</p><p>They fight, like anyone does, and when they do it weathers them both, makes a tender spot in both of their hearts.</p><p>But they make up. They talk it out.</p><p>They make it up to each other, tears in both of their eyes and sorrow in their hearts, and they know what to do to improve themselves for their other half; and what to do to improve themselves for themselves.</p><p>They make up, with smiles on their lips and laughter bubbling up despite the tear tracks on their faces.</p><p>They weather each other, they find each other’s sharp edges to be worn down. And they compromise. They work it out. They talk it out.</p><p>They are what they want and need to be.</p><p> </p><p>They comfort each other.</p><p>They know each other’s fears, what one would consider a weakness and the other would call uniqueness.</p><p>They protect each other, as best as they can. And they know not to be suffocating.</p><p>Yukhei isn’t sure if it’s a fear or just a mild discomfort, but Jungwoo knows how to subtly redirect Yukhei’s gaze away from the frogs that sometimes appear on their doorstep in mid-spring. Yukhei feels silly for his feelings of distress against the slimy creatures, but Jungwoo is always there to reassure him; fears can be irrational, and he’s valid for feeling this way, and honestly, frogs are pretty odd looking, and what are their legs so long for anyway? And Yukhei is able to laugh again.</p><p>Jungwoo has always had an aversion to horror movies. From creepy characters to ominous music, they leave him feeling paranoid for days, even weeks after if he does happen to see one. Yukhei knows this, and he doesn’t mind horror movies as much. So he watches them when Jungwoo isn’t home, or when he’s with his friends. There’s much better things to watch when Jungwoo is home, anyway. Yukhei would pick watching <em>Coco</em> and <em>Moana </em>over <em>Annabelle</em> any day, especially when he gets to see Jungwoo’s face light up so brightly at the beautiful animations and heartwarming stories.</p><p> </p><p>They hate being sad, because even if it’s a necessary part of life, they know it’ll only make their other half sad.</p><p>When Yukhei is sad, he cries. Hard. He’s unafraid to hide it when it does happen, but he sometimes tries to hold it in so that he doesn’t upset Jungwoo. More often than not, that just builds his sadness until it bubbles up and bursts out forcefully.</p><p>Yukhei had cried while reading a book once. <em>Eleanor and Park</em>, the cover read. Jungwoo knew when he heard the first sniffles that he should prepare for the floodgates to open. He quietly stood up to retrieve a box of tissues for them both, already feeling his eyes prickle. When he returned, Yukhei had finished reading and promptly burst into tears, and Jungwoo silently followed suit. Even with tears blurring his vision, he still knelt by Yukhei’s chair.</p><p>“What’s wrong, my love?”</p><p>Yukhei had shaken his head, holding back his cries for only a moment. “It’s just this book. It’s… it’s so <em>sad</em>, and maybe it’s full of hope, too, but-” he choked back a sob, taking one of the offered tissues to blow his nose. After a few moments to control his breathing and gather his thoughts he continued. “It’s hopeful but it’s uncertain, and I hate that. I love it, but I also hate it. I know that’s how life is, but the ending makes me want more, makes me hope they end up okay, makes me <em>feel</em> and it’s just too much at once.” And with that, he began crying again, harder.</p><p>Jungwoo was not much better.</p><p>“Oh, my dear,” he managed to say. He had stood, holding out his arms to pull Yukhei close. Yukhei rose immediately, crashing into Jungwoo and smushing his face into Jungwoo’s shoulder. Jungwoo brought his arms around to comfort him, to soothe him, hands rubbing his back and tangling in his hair. Yukhei did the same for him, knowing that Jungwoo had gotten nearly as upset as him despite not having read the book.</p><p>After a while, they both felt better, enough that they decided to cuddle on the couch together and bask in each other’s closeness and warmth.</p><p>Maybe the book was sad, and maybe it was too close to real life. But right then, they were there for each other, and they were together.</p><p>When Jungwoo is sad, he’s <em>sad</em>. He holes himself up, wrapping blankets around him and trying to hide his tears from Yukhei. He knows Yukhei would only want to help, but he doesn’t want to upset him with anything trivial.</p><p>To Yukhei, nothing to do with Jungwoo could ever be trivial.</p><p>He had found Jungwoo one afternoon curled up in their bed, a shivering mess under the comforter. He slowly peeled the blankets back, giving Jungwoo a verbal warning as he did so.</p><p>All the fight to stay hidden had drained out of him at that point, letting Yukhei unveil his sadness to the dim light of the sun through closed blinds.</p><p>Yukhei had gasped.</p><p>Jungwoo, nearly as tall as Yukhei himself, was huddled into a ball, shaking and crying and his hair was a mess and he clearly hadn’t gone to work that day like Yukhei thought he had and he just looked so, so small.</p><p>“Honey,” Yukhei started. Then he stopped. Jungwoo looked like he needed contact right now, a hug, not words.</p><p>So, he slowly crawled into the bed, feeling tears starting to drip down his own cheeks, and he curled into Jungwoo, wrapping his arms around him to try and anchor him. He didn’t know what had made Jungwoo so upset; he would probably find out later, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was that Jungwoo felt better, calmer, more on top of the situation, whatever it may be.</p><p>After what felt like hours to Yukhei, Jungwoo finally stopped shaking and he uncurled himself to wrap his arms around Yukhei. Yukhei was so relieved that another wave of tears rose and started to fall. Jungwoo had looked up at him, gave him a wet chuckle.</p><p>“What’s got you so upset, dear?” Jungwoo had asked, cheeks still wet.</p><p>Yukhei just gave him a watery smile. “Whatever is upsetting you.” When Jungwoo had looked guilty, ready to apologize, Yukhei rushed to beat him to it. “I don’t want you to be sad, but I’d rather be here and be sad with you than know that you are upset and alone. You mean so much to me, baby.”</p><p>He had pressed a kiss to Jungwoo’s forehead. “You don’t have to tell me what it is now, but please know that I’ll always be here to listen to whatever you want to say. I love you.”</p><p>And Jungwoo cried a little more at that, but the tears were sweeter; he was so, so glad he had someone to hold him close.</p><p>Eventually, Yukhei rose to open up the curtains to their bedroom window to let the afternoon sunlight stream in, only for them to fall asleep in each other’s arms moments afterward. Neither of them minded.</p><p> </p><p>Jungwoo and Yukhei both treasure their happy moments as much as they can. The moments where they can feel each other’s love and wrap themselves in each other’s smiles and sweetness and warmth.</p><p>Today, they decide to go on a picnic.</p><p>A rare day off in the middle of the week for them both, they want to make the most of the sunlight and blue skies and the comforting scent on the breeze.</p><p>Only a few blocks from their home, they find the perfect park with the perfect tree to sit under. They settle down, unpack their lunch, and relax.</p><p>They eat together, all grins and laughter as they tell stories and jokes and try to feed each other.</p><p>When they’re done, they lie together, holding hands with their eyes closed. They both smile, not seeing but feeling the joy radiating off the other. They spend so much time together, but they never tire of each other. And sometimes, it’s nice to spend time together in a new place.</p><p>Jungwoo feels himself start to doze off when he’s shaken back awake by Yukhei’s hand on his shoulder.</p><p>Feeling too peaceful to be annoyed at the sudden awakening, he simply blinks his eyes open and looks up into Yukhei’s shining eyes.</p><p>He’s grinning. At what, Jungwoo doesn’t know.</p><p>But it’s a sweet grin. So he smiles back.</p><p>“Honey,” Yukhei starts, “I have something I want to give you.” He places a warm palm on Jungwoo’s cheek. Jungwoo nuzzles into his warmth immediately. Yukhei giggles.</p><p>“Baby, can you sit up? I want to see if you like it.”</p><p>“It’s you, dear, I don’t think I can <em>not</em> like it,” Jungwoo grumbles playfully, but he sits up anyway.</p><p>Once Jungwoo is upright, Yukhei opens his mouth to say something.</p><p>Then he hesitates.</p><p>As curious as Jungwoo is, he doesn’t push him. Sometimes, they both just need to take their time to think things through.</p><p>After a few quiet beats, Yukhei is ready to speak.</p><p>“Jungwoo, my sweet honey,” Yukhei starts, and Jungwoo giggles at this. Yukhei shushes him with a smile.</p><p>“Jungwoo, I know we’ve only talked about it a little bit before. And… and I know that it doesn’t mean everything to be married and…” he trails off.</p><p>Jungwoo goes stock-still.</p><p>“Ah, I meant to save that for later,” Yukhei curses and smacks a palm to his forehead. Then he looks over and sees Jungwoo’s wide, nervous eyes. He’s quick to grab Jungwoo’s hands to reassure him.</p><p>“It’s okay, honey,” he whispers, his thumbs stroking across the backs of Jungwoo’s hands. Then stronger, more sure of himself; “Baby, I know where we live we can’t really get married yet. But… I have something for you, something that doesn’t really mean anything but it’ll be something that we can have to look at, something that we can have on us at all times to remind us of, well, us, if we ever need it.”</p><p>Yukhei lets go of Jungwoo’s hands as he turns around to grab something out of his bag, and Jungwoo misses the warmth. Less shocked now, he has a sneaking suspicion of what Yukhei might have planned.</p><p>His suspicions are confirmed when Yukhei turns back around, biting his lip nervously with a metal ring in each hand. Jungwoo is more than a little breathless.</p><p>“It’s nothing fancy,” he admits, looking more at the ground than at Jungwoo. “And I knew we mentioned that maybe we could travel and get married abroad one day, nothing too intense. I just thought-” his anxious rambles are cut off and he looks up as Jungwoo gently places his hands over top of Yukhei’s, careful not to jostle the rings.</p><p>Jungwoo is smiling at him, eyes bright and shining with happy tears.</p><p>“My love,” he says, voice wobbly with all the joy threatening to burst out, “It’s perfect. I love this. And I love you.” He leans forward, places a kiss on Yukhei’s forehead, his cheeks, then waits for a nod of permission before giving Yukhei a soft kiss on his lips.</p><p>Yukhei feels his eyes start to burn too. Of course, one half can’t cry without the other joining in.</p><p>“May I?” Jungwoo asks shyly once he leans back again, holding one palm out for Yukhei to place a ring into. Yukhei gently flips his hand over, giving the ring to Jungwoo. Jungwoo inspects it close up.</p><p>The ring has a soft quality to it, shining a gentle silver in the sunlight. There is a small amount of engraving, just a vine-like pattern snaking all the way around the band. Despite the delicate look of the ring, Jungwoo can tell from the feel that’s it’s fairly sturdy. Meant to last a long time.</p><p>Just like Jungwoo and Yukhei.</p><p>He holds out his right hand, waiting for Yukhei to place his left hand in it. When he does, he slips the silver band onto Yukhei’s ring finger.</p><p>Perfect fit.</p><p>His hands begin to shake as he waits for Yukhei to do the same for him, the tears that had been threatening to spill over earlier finally falling for both of them right as this ring slides down to a snug fit on his waiting finger.</p><p>They both look at Jungwoo’s hand in awe, then Yukhei’s, then into each other’s eyes.</p><p>They see each other reflected there.</p><p>Within seconds, they can’t hold back anymore and they reach out desperately, crashing into each other in a tight hug. They press soft kisses to each other’s cheeks when they can, both crying but so, so happy.</p><p>When the tears finally dry, they separate again, look into each other’s eyes once more.</p><p>They see everything that has accumulated up until now.</p><p>The similarities, the differences.</p><p>The weathering, the compromises.</p><p>The comfort, the sadness.</p><p>The happiness.</p><p>The love.</p><p>They lay back down together, hands clasped firmly once more, but now they gaze softly, fondly, at each other</p><p>They see who they are and what they are.</p><p>They are Jungwoo and Yukhei.</p><p>Yukhei and Jungwoo.</p><p>They simply Are.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>first part of the series!<br/>i started this series after i was listening to the plans album by death cab for cutie and i got inspired to do markhyuck. then i thought, why not the whole of nct???<br/>so hopefully more should be coming soon :3</p><p>anywho i love luwoo and they're both my lovely aquarius + aquarius cusp sweethearts and i would risk it all for them</p><p>feel free to leave a comment and tell me what you think! :D</p></blockquote></div></div>
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